Tempe physician wins Dancing With the Docs

A physician from Tempe, Clyde Mendonca, won this year's People's Choice Award at the third annual Dancing with the Docs competition.

Mendonca, a nephrologist and internist, danced the mambo to "Yay Boy" by Regina with Vicki Nyemchek, a professional dancer at Fred Astaire Dance Studios in Chandler.

Other performances, on April 9 at Chandler Center for the Arts, included a cabaret-style dance to "Sparkling Diamonds" by Dr. Mytia McNeal, Tim Bishop and Rick Suttle.

Dr. Alexis Woods and James Weathers danced a salsa, and Dr. Emily Zaragoza-Lao and Chris DeMillier performed the East Coast swing.

Others were a rumba by Dr. Jennifer Shaw and Bishop, and a cha cha by Dr. Rimma Finkel and Weathers.

A blind-folded Dr. Pratik Patel performed a tango with Julie Mills, the manager of the Chandler Fred Astaire Studio. Patel danced blind-folded to show that a connection to a partner is essential to dance.

Other dancers and their performances were Dr. Jesse Shriki and Nyemchek, waltz; Dr. Ruth Bristol and Nedko Petrov, rumba/mambo; and Dr. Rohit Sud and Tracy Marinas, a Bollywood-style interpretation.

Panel judges, who made comments but deferred to the audience to choose a winner, were Edgar Hernandez, M.D.; Tim Bricker, president and CEO of Mercy Gilbert Medical Center; and Patty White, president and CEO of Chandler Regional Medical Center.